FBI plans new Net-tapping push

I was not sure where to put this if this is the wrong forum Mods please move to the correct one.

This is a very interesting article which lays out the FBI's plans to virtually do away with Internet privacy.

I am kind of on the fence with this, yes I want them to have the power to catch the pervs, terrorists and other filth but even though I do nothing wrong do not like the idea of someone being able to look over my shoulder at will.

The FBI has drafted sweeping legislation that would require Internet service providers to create wiretapping hubs for police surveillance and force makers of networking gear to build in backdoors for eavesdropping, CNET News.com has learned.

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Breaking the legislation down
The 27-page proposed CALEA amendments seen by CNET News.com would:

• Require any manufacturer of "routing" and "addressing" hardware to offer upgrades or other "modifications" that are needed to support Internet wiretapping. Current law does require that of telephone switch manufacturers--but not makers of routers and network address translation hardware like Cisco Systems and 2Wire.

• Authorize the expansion of wiretapping requirements to "commercial" Internet services including instant messaging if the FCC deems it to be in the "public interest." That would likely sweep in services such as in-game chats offered by Microsoft's Xbox 360 gaming system as well.

• Force Internet service providers to sift through their customers' communications to identify, for instance, only VoIP calls. (The language requires companies to adhere to "processing or filtering methods or procedures applied by a law enforcement agency.") That means police could simply ask broadband providers like AT&T, Comcast or Verizon for wiretap info--instead of having to figure out what VoIP service was being used.

• Eliminate the current legal requirement saying the Justice Department must publish a public "notice of the actual number of communications interceptions" every year. That notice currently also must disclose the "maximum capacity" required to accommodate all of the legally authorized taps that government agencies will "conduct and use simultaneously."

I wonder what the hardware manufacturers would say about this, i sure wouldn't buy a backdoored router or any piece of hardware that is set up that way.
I think all this 'backdooring' is bad for business, on the other hand, the french can make a decent router too.

It's bad enough when they re-name something that's already been defeated by popular protest and try to pass it again (or stick it in to a bill that simply has to pass as an un-related addition) - this is the fifth tactic - "regulation" that by-passes both the Legislative and the Judicial Branches - until someone files suit.

Never in my life would I have accepted the premise that peole just don't care what happens with their Constitution, their rights or their liberties.

But we're living in the days where the proof is in the pudding.

The other four "tactics" - in case you were wondering - are:

(1) Give it a patriotic, flag-waving/tear-jerking name

(2) If that doesn't work, re-name it and try it again

(3) If that doesn't work, slip it in with some entirely un-related legislation on a bill that simply has to pass

(4) Say it's to protect women or the kids

If all that fails, simply go "black ops" with it, fund/develop/deploy it secretly and insist that no elected official (outside the Executive branch, of course) has a sufficient enough "security clearance" to examine, question or stop it.

Are you hearing the swelling sound of jackboots marching in lock-step yet?

When at war and perilous times there has alway been loss of privacy and in some cases what we consider as rights. It is up to the courts to say what is Constitutional whether we agree or not.

I had rather sacrifice some email and net privacy than to have another 9/11 or similar. The fact that we have not had another terrorist attack is a tribute to our intelligence activities, including the Patriot Act.
I wonder how many here would remember the censorship and restrictions on all sorts of things in WWII.

When bad people, citizens or foreigners, do bad things the result is a loss of liberty. It has always been the case, and always will be. Liberty requires a high degree of responsibility, without which it cannot survive. Irresponsibility either results in loss of some freedoms, or anarchy.

Whether anyone wants to admit it or likes it or not, we are in a serious war that will last a lifetime, and concessions will and must be made for our nation to survive.

While I do not fully trust the Supreme Court, that is the body that the Constitution gives the power to intrepret laws and compare with the Constitution. They are sometimes wrong, but that is our form of government.

When at war and perilous times there has alway been loss of privacy and in some cases what we consider as rights. It is up to the courts to say what is Constitutional whether we agree or not.

I had rather sacrifice some email and net privacy than to have another 9/11 or similar. The fact that we have not had another terrorist attack is a tribute to our intelligence activities, including the Patriot Act.
I wonder how many here would remember the censorship and restrictions on all sorts of things in WWII.

When bad people, citizens or foreigners, do bad things the result is a loss of liberty. It has always been the case, and always will be. Liberty requires a high degree of responsibility, without which it cannot survive. Irresponsibility either results in loss of some freedoms, or anarchy.

Whether anyone wants to admit it or likes it or not, we are in a serious war that will last a lifetime, and concessions will and must be made for our nation to survive.

While I do not fully trust the Supreme Court, that is the body that the Constitution gives the power to intrepret laws and compare with the Constitution. They are sometimes wrong, but that is our form of government.

Best.
Jerry

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Our form of government also gives us the right......no, the responsibility....to dissent. If you think there's been no 9/11 because of the loss of rights of Americans, I don't know what to say. I disagree with all I have with this:

When bad people, citizens or foreigners, do bad things the result is a loss of liberty. It has always been the case, and always will be.

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If that is, in fact, the truth - then who has won? If what you say is true - the terrorists have won. Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson both warned of trading freedoms for temporary safety and security. The nanny state could make us all very safe, with the consequences of no freedom at all, with all of us under constant surveillance. Think of the USSR in the 1970's: Low crime, everyone had a job, free health care, free education, nuclear capabilities to protect them - but cameras and spies everywhere and no freedom at all. I'm not willing to make that trade and I'm sorry to read that apparently you are. Think long and hard before you allow the government to strip you of freedoms in the name of "protecting" you. You may end up protected to death with a hellish national security state doing the "protecting."

I wonder how many here would remember the censorship and restrictions on all sorts of things in WWII.

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It is not very smart to compare this "war" to WWII, the motives for censorship where very different then.
Here in Europe we have an interesting history on what will happen if they take away your privacy and freedom for no apparant reason.

Not to long ago there was a country called East-Germany, they had this organisation called STASI, their objective was to know everything about everybody and they where very effective at that, even your own brother could be a member and betray you.This turned the country into some sort of big prison camp.
The sad part is that this had nothing to do with security anymore but with total controll of the population.
So be carefull with what you're willing to give up, the country could go down the drain, it happened to them aswell.

Read through as many of the threads as you can (and the associated links).

Come back and tell me if you can't see a definite pattern there that exposes total Executive Branch contempt for both the Constitution and the right for American citizens to live free from un-warranted government intrusion into their everyday lives.

The "war against terrorism" is never going to end, Jerry - do you truly advocate suspension of the Constitution and Bill of Rights and the total dis-memberment of our three-Branch system of governments' "checks-and-balances" forever?

I respect what you're saying, but what I suggest is that your basic premise (trading liberty for some illusory "safety") is completely wrong.

And I'll not give up my children's heritage, nor accept the total paradigm shift our national identity is undergoing by surrendering to this "total control'/"total surveillance" society that is currently being shoved down our throats.

Due to our stand on political type posts....I will ask that We return our focus in this thread back to computing or an Internet related discussion. Please visit our Political Links thread if you wish to continue a discussion of the Constitution, Bill of Rights...etc. This thread has done well considering the closeness one can come when discussing "Net-tapping"....however crossing the line into Politics will not be allowed.